2015 &mdash; year of dating apps!

Online dating is not a new concept anymore. There is a flood of apps and websites that help you find a date. I’ll help you out with comparisons on a few dating platforms; Tinder, Aisle.co, Trulymadly.com, Thrill, OkCupid and Woo. These are available on the platforms mentioned below:

Tinder, Thrill, OkCupid and Woo are positioned as dating apps. These dating platforms use the Facebook login and show matches based on your likes on Facebook. This makes sense to a great extent since you get to meet people who share similar interests. But here is a thought for these apps, “Isn’t it said that opposites attract?” How do you factor that?

Aisle.co is positioned as a platform that connects eligible Indians worldwide. It uses the Facebook login but it verifies profiles of male users before activating their accounts. I haven’t heard of any females getting their accounts verified. Post account activation, a user has to create a profile to help a person understand his or her basic interests. But to ensure seriousness among users one needs to pay to connect. This is also a great way to monetise for promoters. The profile of users is very good and you won’t encounter random people on this platform. It is highly recommended to people who are seriously looking for a date. The payment for sending three connection requests is Rs 2000. Your connection count is deducted only when the other person accepts your request. If a request is rejected or not replied to, the same is credited back to your account. As a user I have encountered technical glitches on the website many times but the same have been rectified by the team. Now that Aisle.co has raised investment, I hope they soon come with an app and improve technical infrastructure to ensure smooth functionality.

Trulymadly.com is positioned as the modern shaadi.com. Just like parents used to create profiles for their children on online marriage bureaus (shaadi.com, bharatmatrimony.com etc); trulymadly wants the youth to discover and decide on partners .themselves. A user logs in through Facebook and then fills up his profile through a series of questions. The reason for completing your profile is to help the platform find ideal matches for you. Unlike other dating platforms wherein you may be able to see more than 100 people a day, Trulymadly shows only 10. It will ask you to come back to see a new set of matches. Also, it is not on iOS, hence I haven’t used it on my mobile. The marketing campaigns are well planned. It has positioned itself excellently among young educated Indians though I haven’t encountered likeminded girls here. Plus, showing only 10 people every day is irritating. It’s a very small number and I never felt like hooking on to use it.

Tinder, Thrill and Woo are positioned as. apps for dating. A user signs up using Facebook and can see likeminded individuals based on Facebook likes. While Tinder works flawlessly as per the set criteria (gender, age, distance), Thrill still has a long way to go. In simple words Thrill is the desi version of Tinder.Woo, on the other hand, asks you to complete your profile to get more accurate results. It marked only 20 per cent of my profile as completed after fetching details from Facebook. It asks questions related to demographic profile, taste related to music, sports and fitness, cuisine etc. Woo worked flawlessly and all the integrations were very smooth.While in Tinder and Thrill you swipe right for showing interest (like in Tinder and thrill in Thrill) and left for a pass (dislike in Tinder and not thrilling in Thrill), Woo works with a swipe downwards for like and swipe upwards for a pass. There are some unique features like Voice Intro and LinkedIn verification. It adds credibility to a user’s profile.

Woo, however, is not free forever. It is free only for the first 30 days. After that users have to buy a pass. While a monthly access pass is for Rs 250, quarterly and annual pass costs are Rs 550 and Rs 1500 respectively. I think this is to ensure seriousness among users. It also ensures another way of monetisation for the app promoters.

Okcupid is the worst dating app I have ever used. First, there is no privacy since you can message anyone. Second, there is some weird system of showing matches every time. It will ask you to answer a questionnaire on the basis of which it will throw you matches. I think it doesn’t make sense because people can answer the same questions differently every time based on their mood.

This space is heating up since there are a few more dating platforms coming up here in India. One of them, which has a very unique concept, is girlmeetsboy.in. Do check it out!

About the Author:

Nakul Kapur is an Ex- Paytm, ex- Oxigen and masters in business administration from International Management Institute (IMI), Delhi. I love mobile products and currently building Playnlive.com strong. Can be reached on twitter (@kapurnakul) and on email:nakul@playnlive.com